Paulos 4 was a native of Cyprus: Theoph. AM 6272 (Κύπριος τῷ γένει), Nic., Chron., p. 119, 76, Nic., Apol. Min. 4 (837B), Ignatius, Vita Tarasii 8, Zon. XV 9. 8, Vita S. Theophylacti 4 (τοῦ Κυπρίου Παύλου). He came from Salamis (Konstanteia): Synodikon Vetus, c. 150 (ed. Duffy and Parker, p. 124) (Παῦλος ὁ Κύπριος Σαλαμινεὺς).

He was a lector, according to Theophanes: Theoph. AM 6272 (ἀναγνώστης ὑπάρχων), cf. Zon. XV 9. 8 (ἀναγνώστης ὢν καὶ ὀρθόδοξος). According to the Chronicon of Nicephorus he was a deacon: Nic., Chron., p. 119, 76 (Παῦλος ὁ Κύπριος διάκονος). He was distinguished for his learning and his way of life (λόγῳ καὶ πράξει διαλάμπων): Theoph. AM 6272. He and Konstantinos 32 were described as ἄνδρες σοφοὶ καὶ ἐλλόγιμοι; they were both familiar with the writings of Epiphanios of Salamis and denied that statements attributed to Epiphanios at the iconoclast council of Hieria in 754 were genuine: Nic., Apol. Min. 4 (837B-C).

Paulos 4 succeeded Niketas 1 as patriarch of Constantinople in 780 and remained in office for five years (so Theophanes; Nicephorus, Chron., gives five years six months) and was succeeded in 784 by Tarasios 1: Nic., Chron., p. 119, 76, Theoph. AM 6177, Zon. XV 9. 8, 11. 8, Synodikon Vetus, c. 150 (successor of Niketas). Described as orthodox (i.e. iconophile) and a confessor: Nic., Chron. 76. He was chosen as patriarch of Constantinople in succession to Niketas 1 only after much persuasion and force had been used, because he opposed the prevailing orthodoxy (i.e. he was an iconophile); the date was the second Sunday in Lent (20 February) 780: Theoph. AM 6272, cf. Zon. XV 11. 1-8 (his reluctance to accept). His dates were 780-784.

In 784 he fell ill and on 31 August retired from his see and withdrew to the monastery of Phloros, where he assumed the dress of a monk; he acted without informing the emperor and empress; in reply to questions he declared his unhappiness with the policies of iconoclasm (cf. below) and proclaimed the necessity of an ecumenical council to correct the situation; shortly afterwards he died; in Theophanes his devoutness and charity are praised and the high regard in which he was held is stressed: Theoph. AM 6276 (Παῦλος, ὁ ὅσιος καὶ ἁγιώτατος πατριάρχης), Theoph. AM 6277, cf. Vita Ioannis Gotthiae, p. 191 and Ignatius, Vita Tarasii 8-11 (a native of Salamis in Cyprus, he was patriarch of Constantinople when the iconoclast heresy still ruled; he wished to end it but had no support as all his fellow-bishops were iconoclasts; when he fell ill and death approached he secretly fled from his see and entered the monastery of Phloros and became a monk, Vita Tarasii 8, lines 1-19; the emperors Constantine (Konstantinos 8) and Eirene 1 were angry when they heard and they visited him there to discover the reasons for his flight; he explained that as he was ill and approaching death he repented of having given his support to the heresy of iconoclasm and with his own hand having subscribed to it; he begged them to take steps to restore the Church to the true faith, and recommended Tarasios 1 as the man capable of guiding the Church to this end, Vita Tarasii 9-10; shortly afterwards he died, Vita Tarasii 11), Vita S. Theophylacti 4 (he abdicated suffering remorse at having been elected by iconoclasts), Nic., Apol. Min. 4 (837C-840A) (unable to continue as patriarch because of his iconoclast connections, he abdicated; shortly afterwards he fell ill and died), Zon. XV 11. 1-8. When asked by the emperors Konstantinos 8 and Eirene 1 and other notables why he had retired from the patriarchate to become a monk, he replied that he wanted to dissociate himself from all those people around him who were iconoclasts and who had condemned the veneration of icons at a Council; he said that if he died still in office he would be anathematised by the whole Church: Mansi XII 1003-1006 (cited in a letter from the emperors to the Council of Nikaia in 787; perhaps the letter was the source of some of the remarks in Theophanes, Vita Ioannis Gotthiae and Ignatius, Vita Tarasii, above). His successor was Tarasios 1.

See also Rochow, Theophanes, pp. 225-226, 240- 243, and see further Catal. Patr. 290. 17-20; Nikeph., Elenchos kai anatrope fol. 198r-v, p. 248 (in P. J. Alexander, The Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople, Oxford, 1958); Georg. Mon. 767, 19-768, 21; Patria Const. 269, 9-12; Vita Tarasii, in Menologium, ed. Latyshev, I 132. 16-133. 17.

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